In THE UNKNOWN KNOWN, Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris (THE FOG OF WAR) offers a mesmerizing portrait of Donald Rumsfeld, one of the key architects of the Iraq War, and a larger-than-life character who provoked equal levels of fury and adulation from the American public. Rather than conducting a conventional interview, Morris has Rumsfeld perform and expound on his “snowflakes,” tens of thousands of memos (many never previously published) he composed as a congressman and as an advisor to four different presidents, twice as Secretary of Defense. These memos provide a window onto history—not history as it actually happened, but history as Rumsfeld wants us to see it. Morris makes plain that Rumsfeld’s “snowflakes”—whether intended to elucidate, rationalize, obfuscate, or control history—are contradicted by the facts. THE UNKNOWN KNOWN is an illumination of the mystery of Donald Rumsfeld, an unknown known.

Writer-Director Henry Jaglom gives us a bracingly funny, fearless and fast-paced human comedy set in a struggling Los Angeles television station threatened by economic downturn, possible in-house graft and massive job loss. Tanna Frederick plays Moxie, a children’s TV show actress who unexpectedly finds herself leading an extraordinary band of rebelling women demanding their rights as they anxiously face uncertain futures after their new boss (Michael Imperioli) and his second-in-command (Robert Hallak) arrive from New York on a devastating cost-cutting mission.

All of Moxie’s personal and professional assumptions and those of her long-time boyfriend (Corey Feldman) are turned upside-down as her mother, two aunts and stepfather join with dozens of her fellow female office workers to illuminate the struggles, challenges and joys of what is still, in some circles, referred to as ‘The Change Of Life.’

On March 5th, 2013, San Francisco’s skyline was transformed by an amazing sight: 25,000 LED lights that, for perhaps the first time save the 1989 earthquake, caused people to consider the Bay Bridge instead of her iconic sister.

How did this happen? Who was behind the eight-million-dollar installation? How in the world did they pull it off?

The story behind the making of THE BAY LIGHTS—a project whose very “impossibility made it possible”—answers these questions, revealing the drama and the daring of artist Leo Villareal and a small team of visionaries who battle seemingly impossible challenges to turn a dream of creating the world’s largest LED light sculpture into a glimmering reality.

Kevin Spacey, Sam Mendes and the Bridge Project Company go on the road in NOW:IN THE WINGS ON A WORLD STAGE. In over 200 performances, and across 3 continents, Kevin and the troupe reveal some of the most intimate moments behind the scenes of their staging of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, “Richard III.” Their story and experiences weave around, and reflect on, excerpts from the play from their various locations, from Epidaurus to Doha, and provides a great opportunity for those who have never experienced Spacey on stage to witness his immersive and captivating interpretation of Richard III. NOW chronicles the first collaboration between Spacey and Mendes since their work on American Beauty. Directed by Jeremy Whelehan. 93 mins. 2014. Digital.

Spacey:“NOW is a close, backstage look at the total experience of being an actor and what it takes to form a company – from rehearsing every day and beginning to create a role with your director, crew and fellow actors to going on tour and spending a year together on the road in manydifferent cultures and countries.”

FIRST ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO INTERGALACTIC FELINE FILM + VIDEO FESTIVAL FOR HUMANS

May 10, 2014

You can buy tickets purrrr program (for $12, at the bottom of the page), or get an ALL CAT-CESS PASS for $30 that gets you into EVERYTHING!

OPENING FESTIVITIES (Noon):

– Lil Bub IN PERSON!

– A WORLD PURRR-MIERE of a new Lil Bub video!

– A Brief History of Cat Videos!

– …And more!

CENTERPIECE SELECTIONS (4pm):

– Owlbert live!

– YOUR cat video submissions in our NEW DIRECTORS’ NEW FILMS section!

– ALL NEW WORLD PURRR-MIERE cat videos by ALEX ROSS PERRY (The Color Wheel, Listen Up Philip), ZACH CLARK (White Reindeer, Modern Love is Automatic), KENT OSBORNE (Adventure Time, School Ties) AND MORE!

– Skype Q&A with KENT OSBORNE (Spongebob Squarepants, Uncle Kent)!

– Scratch Tracks: Live Meowsic + Film with Mike Shoun and Maya Deren’s THE PRIVATE LIFE OF A CAT!

– Even more stuff!

CLOSING NIGHT (8pm):

– EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE live in person, getting a trophy or two and showing a bunch of vidoes!

A survivor of the Rwandan Genocide struggles to forgive the man who killed her children. A victim’s daughter strikes up an unusual friendship with the ex-IRA bomber who killed her father. And two men—one Israeli, one Palestinian—form a bond after tragedies claim their daughters. Watch survivors share their stories of resilience and recovery in their own words.

“Breeders is a fascinating film that highlights the many tensions between women’s status, the free market demands of the fertility industry, and the fragmentation of women’s fertility and reproductive labor. This is a must-see film for all those who care about women and human rights.”
— Hedva Eyal, Medical Technologies Policy Researcher and feminist activist

Surrogacy is fast becoming one of the major issues of the 21st century—celebrities and everyday people are increasingly using surrogates to build their families. But the practice is fraught with complex implications for women, children, and families. What is the impact on the women who serve as surrogates and on the children who are born from surrogacy? In what ways might money complicate things? What about altruistic surrogacy done for a family member or close friend? Is surrogacy a beautiful, loving act or does it simply degrade pregnancy to a service and a baby to a product? Can we find a middle ground? Should we even look for one? Directed by Jennifer Lahl and Matthew Eppinette. 2014.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director JENNIFER LAHL, President of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network.

Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.This year’s I WAKE UP DREAMING cavalcade will be the first ever presented entirely in DIGITAL. The Roxie Theater boasts one of the most outstanding digital projection systems in San Francisco and these specially prepared and supervised digital transfers are guaranteed to look astonishing on the big screen — where they belong!I WAKE UP DREAMING is committed to the idea that classic motion pictures are best viewed on a big screen in a large dark room full of complete strangers. It is our hope that programmers and exhibitors everywhere will explore the seemingly limitless number of films now available to movie theaters in the digital format. ————————–

After an ambitious newspaper reporter’s testimony sends a hapless cabbie to death row for a murder he didn’t commit, pangs of guilt begin to set in. When the reporter suddenly finds himself on trial for murder, the wheels of injustice yet again spin madly out of control. Widely considered to be the first true American studio noir film, this brilliantly realized B picture is a veritable catalog of nearly every noir convention that would follow. Starring John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Peter Lorre as the stranger. Photographed by Nicholas Musuraca. Written by Frank Partos. Directed by Boris Ingster. In B&W. 65 mins. 1940.

At 6:30pm and 9:50pm

….plus:

THE UNSUSPECTED

Could the on-air host of a popular mystery radio program actually be a cold-blooded homicidal killer? The caustic wit of the screenplay nearly overshadows the gothic weirdness of the film itself in one of Hollywood’s great unsung and nearly forgotten noir classics; vividly atmospheric and beautifully played by a stellar Warner Bros. cast including Claude Rains, Joan Caulfield, Audrey Totter, Hurd Hatfield, Constance Bennett. Photographed by Elwood “Woody” Bredell. From the novel by Charlotte Armstrong. Directed by Michael Curtiz. In B&W. 103 mins. 1947.

At 8:00pm only!————-
Tickets are good for one or both movies.
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I WAKE UP DREAMING – Ten sensational days and nights of pre-code crime, proto-noir, and film noir featuring thirty classics and curios spanning the years 1932 to 1965. These incredible films have been pulled from the vaults of the Warner Archive and programmed exclusively for the Roxie Theater by Elliot Lavine.